Box Score
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.- The Christopher Newport University softball team won its 17th straight game Sunday, defeating Virginia Wesleyan for the second straight day to capture the NCAA Regional hosted by the Marlins. The Captains prevailed, 8-5, and will now advance to the Round of 16 and will play a best-of-three "Super Regional" beginning Friday at Salisbury against the Sea Gulls.

The Championship Game Sunday mirrored Saturday's battle between the Top 10 programs. The fifth-ranked Captains, now 38-6 for the season, again broke out to an early 6-0 lead by scoring three runs in each of the first two innings...and then had to hold on and survive a frantic Marlin comeback effort. Virginia Wesleyan, ranked ninth in the country, saw its season come to a close at 39-7 after coming up short for the second straight day.

"I think it came down to who executed more and got more breaks," CNU Head Coach Keith Parr said. "They are a very good team and we knew we would again have a battle to the wire. We were able to get some key hits and stretch the lead late."

Freshman catcher Karlee Holzbach got things rolling for the Captains in the bottom of the first inning. Holzbach belted her fifth home run of the season, a three-run shot to left field, to give CNU the early 3-0 advantage. The Captains added three more in the second thanks to a run-scoring double from freshman Rachael Shiflett as well as RBI singles from freshman Jenna Sprinkle and junior Sabrina Hill. The Captains were able to chase VWC starter MacKenzie Creech in the second inning, giving way to Kristina Karagiorgis, who had started against CNU on Saturday.

The Marlins got to Captains starter Makayla Jenkins in the top of the third, scoring four times on just one base hit. CNU was hurt by two errors in the inning, and Jenkins also walked a batter, hit a batter, and threw two wild pitches that scored runs. Jenkins left during the third, replaced by fellow freshman Krista Lewis. VWC added another run in the fourth to cut the lead to 6-5, but it would be as close as the home team would get.

Christopher Newport plated two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on run-scoring singles from seniors Candice Zollars and Kristina McLaughlin...and freshman Krista Lewis worked out of a jam in the top of the seventh that saw the Marlins get the potential game-tying run to the plate. Lewis induced a fly ball to center off the bat of Kayla Malkos and as sophomore Meagan Jones squeezed the ball, the celebration began for the Captains and their fans.

"It's a very stressful team to play," Zollars said. "They have smart baserunners and a tough lineup to face. We couldn't be more proud of the job Krista (Lewis) did today."

Lewis pitched the final five innings to earn the victory, allowing just one run on five hits. and stranding nine VWC runners. She is now 20-2 for the season. For the day, the Marlins left 12 total runners on base, and reached base in all seven innings against CNU pitching.

"Krista was great," Parr agreed. "Sabrina Hill was named the MVP, but Krista had to be 1b...she pitched with great confidence and made them put balls in play."

The Captains registered 11 hits, led by junior Sabrina Hill and sophomore Tori Clarke, who had two each. CNU handed Wesleyan starter MacKenzie Creech her first loss of the season. The senior finishes her career with a 16-1 record this year.

Now the Captains begin preparing to take on a conference opponent, Salisbury, in a best-of-three beginning Friday in Salisbury, MD. The winner will be one of eight teams to advance to the National Finals in Tyler, Texas. CNU and Salisbury will play a single game on Friday, followed by either one or two games on Saturday to determine the victor. The Captains have won three of four games with the Sea Gulls this season, all played at Captains Park. Two of those victories came in the Capital Athletic Tournament on back-to-back days.

"We are going to take the same approach we did this weekend," Parr continued. "Every team still standing is going to be good, and we know Salisbury is a great team. We've got to keep working hard and take each challenge as it comes."

CNU NOTES: Junior Sabrina Hill was named the MVP of the Regional in Virginia Beach after going 7 for 12 with 3 runs batted in and two runs scored...CNU also had four others named to the all-tournament team (senior Candice Zollars, and freshmen Rachael Shiflett, Karlee Holzbach and Krista Lewis)...Lewis pitched in all three games in the regional, winning two and saving one...the Captains have now matched their second-best win total in school history (CNU also won 38 games in 2011 while the school mark of 42 was set in 2010)...CNU is now 25-22 all-time in NCAA games...the Captains never trailed in the three regional games at VWC, winning over Catholic (6-1) and Virginia Wesleyan twice (7-6 and 8-5)...CNU posted 21 runs on 37 total hits in the three regional games...Hill's seven and senior Candice Zollars' six hits led the way for CNU...freshman Karlee Holzbach's Sunday home run was the only dinger of the tournament for CNU...Head Coach Keith Parr has now coached 499 games at CNU over the last 11 seasons with his 500th coming Friday at Salisbury...Parr's career record is now 375-123-1 for a 75% winning percentage.